Bonds of a Child
by Dueler312
Summary: Starr and Cole are living life with their three year old daughter, Hope. Unfortuantely, things start to trouble when Hope gets diagnosed with leukemia, and two people are trying to get Starr and Cole for themselves. Will they make it though this?
1. Chapter 1

Bonds of a Child

By Dueler312

Disclaimer: I do not own anything of OLTL, just the plot.

Chapter 1

The sun was starting to peek into an apartment where a young woman and man were sleeping, with the man holding his woman in his arms. The woman snuggled to her man comfort when they got a surprise wake-up call.

"Wake up, Mommy, Daddy. Its time to wake up,' said a three year-old girl launching herself on the bed. Both of the parents laughed.

"Hope, did you have to do that?" asked the girl's mom.

"Hey, you two promised me you would make some blueberry pancakes," said Hope.

"She's right, Starr," said her boyfriend.

"I hate it when you team up with her, Cole," teased Starr, but gave her man a kiss on the lips, then got up and started to get ready for the day.

It has been nearly three years since Starr and Cole were reunited with their daughter Hope. They were now in college, and living in an apartment with their daughter, who was now three, turning four in November. They were happy with the way things have been, ever since.

"Come on, Daddy," said Hope. "You got to get up too."

"Yeah, Daddy," said Starr, starting to tease. "Come on, you got to geahhh!" Cole had grabbed Starr and pulled her down to him. Everyone was laughing, even Hope, who joined them.

"You are some work, you know that," said Starr.

"Yeah, but only for my two favorite girls," said Cole. Starr just smiled and shared a kiss between them that lasted a while until Hope started chanting "Pancakes! Pancakes!" That's when they knew it was time to get up.

Later on, after they were all dressed and fed, Starr was getting ready to leave, as she had class this morning at nine, while Cole didn't have his first class until eleven.

"I'll see you two later," said Starr. She kissed Cole, and then kissed Hope's cheek. "Make sure that you behave for your dad, okay," she warned her daughter.

"I will, Mom," said Hope.

"She will, or otherwise she's going to be getting tormented by her dad," joked Cole. Starr and Hope laughed. Then Starr and Cole gave one last kiss to each other, and then Starr headed out for class.

As soon as Starr was out of their apartment, Cole called Hope to him.

"What is it, Daddy?" asked Hope.

"I want to show you something, but, you have to keep it quiet, because I don't want your mom to know," said Cole.

"Is it something bad?" asked Hope.

"Actually, it something beautiful," Cole answered. "Follow me."

Hope shadowed her dad over to her parents' room, and Cole started to look for something in the closet. After a few seconds, Cole emerged out of the closet with a safe, which he set on the bed.

"What's in there, Dad?" asked Hope, getting excited.

"Hang on," said Cole, as he unlocked the safe. He then took something out of there and put the safe on the ground. Cole then picked hope up and put her there, and sat down next to her and said, "Look what I got for your mom."

Hope watched as her father opened up a black box he revealed, containing a ring with a sparkling diamond in the center.

"Are you going to ask Mom to marry you Dad?" asked Hope.

"You got that right," said Cole, closing the box and locking it back in the safe. "I'm just waiting for the right moment to do it," he added while putting the safe back in the closet.

"Why not do something for Mommy to lead to it?" Hope suggested.

"Oh don't worry, I got it planned on how I want it to go," said Cole. "I just need to figure when to do it."

"You're scared, aren't you?" Hope asked, laughing a little.

"Well, it's a really big step to go through," said Cole, sitting down next to his daughter again. "But I really love your mother a lot, so I want to make it official.

"Mom would look pretty," said Hope.

"She would, but we can't worry about that right now, because you got to go see if you got everything you want to take to your Grandma Blair today, so up to it."

Hope smiled, and jumped off the bed. She stopped at the door, and said, "I love you, Dad."

"I love you too, sweetie," said Cole. Hope then ran off to her room. Cole then reached for a drawer that had a photo album of him, Starr and Hope, along with their friends, Langston and Markko, and their family. Cole just smiled, looking at the past, seeing what they went through to get here, thinking about how his and Starr's love for each other had grown, along with Hope. Cole decided to visit it later, as he put the album back and went to see if his daughter was ready.

Starr arrived ten minutes early for her class, so she had a little time to get ready, when both she and Cole's best friends, Langston and Markko showed up.

"Hey, what's up?" asked Langston, who sat down on the right side of her friend, with Markko sitting right next to his girlfriend. Langston and Markko were living together at an apartment as well, and were doing all right with each other.

"Nothing much, except Hope became the new alarm clock," said Starr.

'I took it she got you and Cole by jumping on the bed?" Markko guessed.

Starr looked at him. "What do you got? ESP?" she asked, laughing. Langston joined in the laughing as well.

A few minutes later, everyone that was in the class had seated, and the professor started the class. The professor was in the middle of a lecture when the door opened again.

"Well, looks like your late for your first class, Ms. Jennings," said the professor.

Starr, Langston, and Markko turned around, and saw someone they thought they would never see again. Britney Jennings.

(_A/N: Hope you guys like the first chapter of this story. Let me know what you guys think, and stay tuned for more.)_


	2. Chapter 2

Bonds of a Child

By Dueler312

Disclaimer: I do not own anything of OLTL, just the plot.

Chapter 2

"I apologize, professor. I had a little trouble finding the classroom," said Britney as she sat down, two rows behind Starr and the others, who still were pretty shocked to see her.

They remained pretty quiet until class was over.

"I never thought to see her again," said Starr.

"I wonder why she's here. I thought she would be a college her parents would want," said Markko.

"Hey, let's not worry about that," said Langston. "I mean we got everything we wanted, and nothing is going to change that."

Starr looked at her friend, and then said, "You're right, Langston."

"Well, I never thought I would be seeing you three again," said Britney, who had come up to them.

"Same here," said Starr.

"I guess Cole isn't here with you guys," Britney guessed, looking around.

"He's not in this class," said Starr.

"Oh, well I guess I can reunite with him later," said Britney.

"Okay, Britney, what are you really wanting?" asked Langston, though she, Starr, and Markko had a good feeling.

"Nothing, just wanted to catch up," said Britney. "I'll see you later." And she headed towards the door.

"Okay, did you two think that was weird?" asked Markko.

"Do you have to ask that?" Langston asked back.

"Hey, you two can argue on that all you want," said Starr. "I got to get to my next class." She loved her next class because Cole was in there with her

"All right," said Langston.

"Later," said Markko. Starr headed out and hurried over to her next class, but bumped into someone very familiar.

"Starr, are you okay?"

Starr looked up and saw that she bumped with Cole.

"Yeah, I guess my mind was on something really big," said Starr, who was picking up her and Cole's stuff with his help.

"Would it happen to be someone you love?" asked Cole, joking a little. Starr giggled a little, but then said, "I wish it were."

"What do you mean?" Cole asked again, this time in a serious tone.

"Someone familiar is back in town," said Starr. "Britney's back."

"Aww, that's a pretty picture," said Blair. She was at La Boulaie watching Hope for Starr and Cole.

"It's a picture of me, Mommy, and Daddy," explained Hope.

"And it's a real good one too," Blair added, looking at the picture. Blair then noticed something that Hope drew on the picture of Starr. "What's that?" she asked.

Hope looked at it, and then thought, 'Oh no.' She actually drew the ring that Cole showed to her on Starr finger. However, while only at the age of three, being the kid of Starr Manning and Cole Thornhart provided this little girl with good thinking skills.

"That's just the way I hope they'll be someday," said Hope. "Oops." She dropped one of her crayons and went down to pick it up, but as she did, her forehead made contact with the table. "Ow!"

"Ooh. Are you okay?" asked Blair.

"Yeah, I'm fine, Grandma," said Hope. "It does hurt a little."

"Well, maybe a little kiss from your grandma may help a little," said Blair, as she kissed Hope's forehead, which she giggled a little. Hope then turned her head around, which swished her long brown hair. For some reason, Hope actually loved her hair long, because she said it made her real pretty; even though her mom said that she would look pretty no matter what she looked like.

Blair continued to watch her color, but as she did, she noticed that a small light colored bruise appeared on where she made contact with the table on her forehead, and it actually colored a little. Blair started to think, wondering how that happened, as she didn't her head on the table that hard.

"Whoa! Hold on. Britney?" asked a shocked Cole.

"As in the one who kept messing with us for a year and a half? Yeah, That Britney," said Starr.

"She didn't give you any trouble, did she?" Cole asked, looking like he was ready to jump into action.

"No, but she did seem weird," Starr noted. "But she couldn't do anything anyway, because Langston and Markko were at my side."

"Well, that's good." said Cole.

"Hey, did Hope behave well?" Starr asked as they walked in, and found a couple of seats to sit in.

"Yeah, I can tell you she definitely was a little princess," said Cole.

"That's good," said Starr.

"Excuse me," someone said behind them. Cole and Starr looked behind them and saw a young man. "Can you move your stuff of the seat please?" he asked, directing it at Starr.

Starr looked and saw that she had put her stuff on the chair the guy was talking about.

"Oh, I'm sorry," said Starr, and she quickly removed her stuff from there so the guy could sit down.

"Thanks," he said. "I'm Tim by the way," he added.

Starr shook his hand. "Nice to meet you. "I'm Starr, and this is my boyfriend Cole," she nodded toward him.

'Not for long,' thought Cole. "Hey," he said out loud to him.

"Hello," said Tim, though in a rough way that Cole only heard. He decided to brush it off a little.

"Well, it seems that you two are hooked together," said Tim.

"Yeah, we actually live together with our daughter," said Starr.

"Oh, that's cool," said Tim.

"Yeah. Her name is Hope, and she's three years old," Cole said with a smile. Tim smiled as well,

After class, Starr and Cole left to go pick up Hope. Tim was standing there, thinking about something, when someone asked, "You want her, aren't you?"

(_A/N: I'm pretty sure you all know who said that. Have Starr and Cole made a new friend, or a new enemy? Stay tuned.)_


	3. Chapter 3

Bonds of a Child

By Dueler312

Disclaimer: I do not own anything of OLTL, just the plot.

Chapter 3

"What are you talking about?" Tim said, turning around and facing the person who just spoke to him. It was Britney.

"It seems to me that you want her," said Britney.

"Actually," Tim said, "I actually do want her, because she would actually make me complete.' He added that with an evil smile.

"Well, then we got something in common," said Britney, "because I want the man, but he's been blinded by that woman, saying that they are soul mates, when they aren't."

"Well, maybe there is a way we can help each other," Tim said, holding out his hand. Britney smiled, evilly, as she took his hand and shook it.

Hope and Blair were still coloring when the doorbell rang. Blair went to go get it.

'Oh hey you two," said Blair. Starr and Cole were at the door.

"Hey Mom," said Starr. "We're just here to pick Hope up."

'Ok, well come on in," said Blair, which Starr and Cole did.

"Mommy," said Hope. She saw them walking in, and came running to them.

"Hey, did you have a good time today?" asked Starr.

"Yeah!" Hope said, really excited. "We actually colored."

"That's cool," said Cole. Cole then noticed that bruise on Hope.

"Hey, how did you get that bruise there, Hope?" asked Cole, pointing toward his daughter's head. Starr looked where Cole was pointing, and saw the bruise as well.

"Oh, she nicked her head on the table when she was picking up her crayons," explained Blair. "I did treat it though, and she didn't bang it real hard."

Starr though was wondering about something, but decided not voice it out loud. "Well, why don't you go get your stuff ready so we can get home, okay?" she asked Hope.

"Ok," said Hope, and she went back into the front room, with Blair heading right behind her.

"Okay, what's going on in your head?" asked Cole.

"What are you talking about?" Starr asked back.

"I noticed that you had a worried look about that bruise on Hope," said Cole.

Starr knew she couldn't keep anything away from Cole, so she decided to tell him. "It just that, the way that bruise looked. Mom said that she didn't hit that hard, but it looks like she did."

"Well, we can get it checked tomorrow, when Hope goes in for her checkup," Cole suggested.

"Yeah, you're right. We do have to do that," said Starr, remembering that Hope had a doctor appointment at the hospital the next day.

Just then, Hope came back in with all her stuff ready to go. "I'm ready."

"She definitely got packed real quick," said Blair who walked in behind her.

"Well, we better go then," said Cole.

"Bye, Grandma," said Hope.

"See you later, and make sure you be good and listen to your mom and dad, or I'm going to be on your butt," warned Blair.

"You can't be on my butt. You're too big for it," said Hope

Starr, Cole and Blair all laughed at that comment, as they headed out.


	4. Chapter 4

**Bonds of a Child**

**By Dueler312**

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything of OLTL, just the plot. **

**Chapter 4**

**Things were busy at the hospital when Starr and Cole arrived with Hope. They managed to get Hope conscious again, but she felt so tired. **

"**Michael!" Starr shouted out to him He saw him, and ran up to him. **

"**Starr, what's wrong?" asked Michael. **

"**Its Hope," said Starr. **

"**She was heading to her bedroom to get ready for bed when she collapsed," Cole explained **

"**All right," said Michael, taking charge. "We'll draw up some blood and check and see what's wrong. He took Hope in his hands and ordered a room for her stat. **

"**Why don't you stay with her, and I'll call everyone, okay," said Cole. Starr nodded, and he went off somewhere and started to call. **

**Over at their apartment, Langston and Markko were busing studying, at least their lips, when Markko's phone rang. **

"**Oh, ignore it," Langston said while they were kissing. **

"**It could be Cole or Starr," said Markko. Langston knew that could be true, so she separated herself from Markko, and he answered his phone. "Hey, what's up man?" **

"**Hey, sorry to interrupt your guys' night, but something bad happened to Hope," Cole explained. **

"**Oh my, is she okay?" asked Markko. Langston noticed there was a panicked sound come from Markko, and knew something was wrong. **

"**We don't know. We just got her here. Dr. McBain is with her right now, and Starr waiting for any news," said Cole. **

"**Ok, Hang on. We'll be right there. We'll also call everyone as well," said Markko, and he hung up. **

"**What's going on?" asked Langston. **

"**It's Hope. She's in the hospital," Markko explained. "We got to get down there." **

"**I'll call Dorian on the way,' Langston said, grabbing her purse, and taking out her phone, dialing her number. They headed out just as Langston managed to get a hold of Dorian. **

"**Dorian, hey, you need to get to the hospital. Starr's daughter just got admitted and we don't know what's wrong yet."**

"**Oh my," said Dorian, who was in the front room of her place, enjoying some tea. "I'll be right there." And with that, she got up and started to get ready. **

**Back at the hospital, Starr was really starting to get worried, that she decided to sit down, and wait. She just buried her face in her hands when she heard someone. "Starr, is that you?" **

**Starr removed her face from her hands and saw her Aunt Viki there. She automatically jumped up and hugged her tight, which surprised her aunt. **

"**Darling, what's wrong?" she asked. **

"**Its Hope," Starr answered, wiping away a few tears. "Something's wrong with her." **

"**Oh, I'm so sorry, sweetie," Viki said, taking her niece in her arms, and comforting her. "Does Cole know?" she asked. **

"**Yeah, we both brought her in together," said Starr. "Oh Cole," she suddenly said/ **

**Cole was walking up to her, and they hugged each other tightly. "I called Markko and let him know. They're calling the others right now, and they're on their way." **

"**Okay," said Starr. **

"**Do you know what's wrong, you two?" asked Viki. **

"**I wish we did, but we haven't heard anything yet," Starr explained. **

"**I wish we can get something soon," said Cole. **

**Viki looked at the couple, feeling really sorry for them. "Hey, as long as she know you two are there for her, she'll be okay," she assured them. **

'**Thanks, Aunt Viki,' said Starr.**

"**Starr! Cole!" **

**They both look up to see Michael walking toward them. **

"**Do you know what going on, Michael?" Starr asked really quickly.**

"**No, not yet," said Michael. "I got the lab running the test now. I just wanted to let you know you can see your daughter now."**

"**Okay, thanks," said Cole, and he and Starr headed down the hallway to their daughter's room. **

"**Michael," said Viki "is it serious?" **

"**I really don't know yet, Viki," said Michael, and he walked away. Viki held her hand to heart, praying for her Starr and her family. **

**Hope was laying down on the bed, in a white hospital gown, feeling a little down, when her parents walked in. **

"**Hey, how are you feeling, sweetie?" Starr asked, sitting on the side of bed. Cole sat right behind her. **

"**I'm okay, but what happened?" asked Hope. **

"**We're not sure, Hope," said Cole. "The doctors are trying to figure that out right now."**

**Hope look down then, feeling bad. When Starr noticed this, she asked, "Hey, what's wrong?" **

"**I wonder if this is my fault," said Hope. **

"**Hey. It's no one fault," said Cole. "These things happen okay."**

"**Yeah, I mean, I was sick when I was younger then you are right now," said Starr. **

"**You were?" asked Hope. **

"**Yeah, I had anemia when I was real young, and I got better, but I learned that it wasn't my fault," said Starr. Hope just smiled. **

**Cole reached out touched his daughter hand. "Hey, don't worry," he said. "Whatever this is, we'll get through it, together." **

"**I hope so," said Hope, "because I wouldn't have it any other way." Starr and Cole smiled at their daughter, and gave her a hug. **

"**Hey, your great-aunt Viki is here. You want to see her?" asked Starr. **

"**Yeah, I love it when I see her," said Hope, excitedly, even though she was still feeling a little tired. **

"**I'll go get her," Cole volunteered, and headed off to the door, but wasn't able to exit because Viki was right there. **

"**Whoa! I'm sorry, Ms. Davidson," said Cole. **

"**Its all right," said Viki. "I just thought I would want to see how my grandniece is doing."**

"**I feel a little tired," said Hope. **

**Just then there was another knock on the door. It was Michael. **

"**Hey, Starr. Cole. I need to talk to you two alone for a minute," he said. **

"**Is something wrong?" asked Hope. **

"**We'll have to see. We'll be right back," said Cole. And he walked out with Michael. **

"**Can you stay with her, Aunt Viki?" asked Starr, Viki nodded, and she followed outside with Cole. **

**Starr caught up with Cole, and then Michael said to them, "Guys, I got some bad news, and good news."**

**Starr tensed up, and Cole brought her closer to him. Starr kept thinking, 'Please don't let it be anything real bad.'**

_**(A/N: Stay tuned to find out how sick Hope is.) **_


	5. Chapter 5

Bonds of a Child

By Dueler312

Disclaimer: I do not own anything of OLTL, just the plot.

Chapter 5

"The bad news is that Hope has got Leukemia," said Michael.

"What!? No," Starr cried out loud, and buried her head into Cole's chest. Cole comforted her, while he asked Michael, "What's the good news?"

'We may have caught it early enough to have enough time to look for a bone marrow match," Michael explained.

"Oh, that's good," said Cole.

Starr removed her head from Cole's chest, and asked, "Does she know?"

"No," Michael answered straight away. "I figured it would be better if it came from her parents."

Cole and Starr nodded in agreement, and they went back to the door of Hope's hospital room.

Viki was still there, and saw their faces, knowing that there was something wrong. "What is it?" she asked.

Starr went over to her daughter other side and sat down, with Cole right next to her. Hope saw that their parents were a little sad. Viki excused herself to let them talk, while Michael informed her of what's happening.

"Mommy, what's wrong? Why are you and Daddy so sad?" asked Hope.

"We um," Cole started to say, but then faltered out, so Starr continued. "We just found out why you went unresponsive."

"Why did I?" asked Hope.

Starr took a huge deep breath and then said, "You have Leukemia, Hope." She started to leak a little tear.

"What's that?" Hope asked.

Cole answered this one. "It's a disease that affects your blood," he explained, though in a light terms.

"That's why that bruise appeared when you bumped your head on the table at Grandma's," Starr explained further.

"I am going to be fine, am I?" asked Hope.

"Don't worry; there is stuff to treat it. It's called chemo, and it can get rid of it real easily, but it also weakens your bone marrow, and we have to find someone who is a match to your blood type so you don't lose yours," said Cole.

"Wow. Could you two do it?" asked Hope.

Starr and Cole looked at each other, and then back at Hope. "We're not sure sweetie," said Starr, "but we are going to check, just to be sure."

"I hope it's someone good. Its sounds like having a knight on a white horse saving me," Hope figured.

Starr and Cole giggled at that, loving how Hope was thinking on the good end there.

Outside of the hospital room, Dorian, Langston, Markko, Blair, Todd, and the rest of Starr's family had arrived, and Viki was explaining to them what was happening.

"Oh my, I can not let that little girl die like that," said Dorian.

"Dorian, relax. We're not going to let it happen. Michael is already getting stuff ready for people to be tested for Hope," Viki explained.

"Well, you know we're going to be on board," said Langston.

"Yeah, we care about her too much to let anything happen to her," Markko added.

"Well, what are we waiting for," asked Todd.

"Well, Michael still has to set up everything," said Viki.

"Well, I think we better then trying to find anyone else who can be a match as well," said Dorian.

Well, me and Jessica can talk to Dad, and see if he can help with something," Natalie suggested.

"Good idea. I'm not just going to stick around and do nothing, while my goddaughter is lying there.

"It's definitely good that we picked you for that job, Jess," said Starr, who was walking up towards the rest family, with Cole by her side.

"Is Hope okay?" asked Blair.

"She's sleeping right now," said Starr. "The only thing we need to do right now is to find a donor for her."

"Well, what are we waiting for?" said Todd. Everyone looked at him.

"What? That's my granddaughter there, and I'm not going to lose her to something we can easily fix, okay."

Starr knew that her dad was up to the challenge. "Well, we better get moving then."

Everyone agreed, and they started to see who could be a valuable donor.

Unknown to all of them, a strange character was listening from a hallway close by.

"This could work in our favor," said the voice. Tim then slipped into the shadows, making sure that neither Starr nor her family saw him slip out.

He got into his vehicle and drove all the way to a house close to a creek. He then got out and knocked on the door. Someone answered it.

"What do you want?" said the person who answered the door.

"I think I got a way to get what we want," Tim said with an evil smile.

"Really? Come on in and do tell," as Britney let him pass through so he can enter.

_(A/N: What could be Britney's and Tim's evil plan?" Stay tuned to find out.)_


	6. Chapter 6

Bonds of a Child

By Dueler312

Disclaimer: I do not own anything of OLTL, just the plot.

Chapter 6

"Okay, so what this big news you have?" asked Britney, shutting the door of her house that she was living in.

"Well, it happens to deal with their child," said Tim.

Britney just scoffed. "They don't have a child together, you stupid. Where in the world did you hear that?" she asked.

"I heard it from the both of them themselves. They both have a little girl. They even showed a picture of it, saying that she's three years old now," said Tim. "Even their whole family is there with them, and I mean everyone."

"Well, when you put that way, then I have to believe it," said Britney. "But wait, what do you mean their whole family is there?"

Tim sat down on a chair and said, "Well it seems their little Hope, which is her name, has leukemia, and they are trying to find to find a bone marrow match for her."

"Yeah, I'm following," Britney said.

"Well, All we have to do is to see if we are a match," Tim started to say, but Britney interrupted him.

"And what happens if we aren't a match, you loser?"

"Well, then I got a good idea for that then," and he whispered the plan into Britney's ear. When he finished, Britney smiled and said, "I like the way you're thinking."

"Yeah, but the question is, once I get Starr, and you get Cole, what do we do with the girl, because she's going to be a constant reminder for the both of them," Tim pointed out.

"Well, let me handle that one," said Britney.

Starr and Cole were sound asleep together in a chair, with Hope asleep in her hospital bed. She was moved to a room where she could start the chemo treatment, which was scheduled for today. Hope was the first one to wake up, and she looked over and saw her parents sleeping in their. Even though she was little, Hope was amazing at remembering stuff. She actually was remembering one night when she woke up and saw her parents in the front room dancing, but no music was there. She just thought that it was amazing, and was glad that she had a mom and dad that loved each other, and to her as well.

Hope still remembered what her dad wanted to propose to her mom, and he wished he could do it soon, but she had a feeling that this wasn't the time or place to do it.

Starr and Cole stirred a little before waking up. Hope saw that, and turned a little, trying to make sure that they didn't know she was watching. "Well, look whose up," said Starr.

"Morning, Mommy and Daddy," Hope said in a too innocent tone.

"What were you doing?" asked Cole.

"Nothing," Hope answered, while giggling a little.

"I think someone was watching us, right?" said Starr, starting to play along.

"No, I w-wasn't-t," Hope squealed out in few more giggles. That caused Starr and Cole to laugh a little there.

"Hey, it's okay if you were," said Starr.

"Yeah. It's just that I like how you two are, and I don't want that to change," said Hope.

"Hey you don't have to worry, because neither of us is going anywhere," Cole said, reaching his hand out to his daughter's hand. Hope just smiled, and so did Starr, as she reached out with her hand, as a reminder that they are strong when they are together.

Meanwhile, it was starting to be really busy over at the diner, as Viki and Charlie had quickly organized a blood test area to see if anyone could be a match for Hope. Carlotta had heard and opened it up immediately, because she had grown fond of Starr and Cole's little girl.

Markko and Langston were even helping as well. They were helping with cooking food for the people who were being tested, though they couldn't help sneak a kiss or two in. They did though talk about how Hope was taking this.

"She's definitely a strong little girl there, with learning what she's got," Langston pointed out.

"Well, she was made by two of the strongest people we know," said Markko.

"Yeah, but still, you got to really admire that," Langston added. "I mean, that little one is really something, facing something like this head on, being that she only three years old, and it's amazing.

Markko had to agree. He looked out all of the volunteers who were willing to get tested. Just then he saw someone walk into the diner that he had never seen before, though Starr and Cole had.

It was Tim, acting his as nice self while get ready to start with his and Britney's plan, by first getting himself tested. When Markko saw him walking though, he got a weird feeling about him. Langston noticed that was he looking strange.

"What are you looking at?" she asked.

"Not what, who," said Markko, "and I'm looking at the guy there."

Langston looked at Tim, even though they didn't know who he was.

"He doesn't seem harmless," said Langston.

"I don't know, I just got a weird vibe about him," said Markko.

"Hey, he's not going to cause trouble, because if he's does, he's going to be sorry he did," Langston assure him.

"Well, no one better mess with us," said Markko, "especially with Starr and Cole right now worrying about Hope." He felt a little down. Langston went over to him and hugged and kissed him.

"Hey, Hope is going to get through this. Besides, we already got our samples in, and hopefully if its not one of us, someone will help save her. Besides, I couldn't take it if she died, for real this time," said Langston.

"I agree," said Markko, as he turned around in Langston's arms and they comforted each other.

Tim was watching them, remembering what Britney told him about Starr and Cole's friends.

"Looks like I got some people to take care of as well," said Tim, as he looked at Langston and Markko releasing each other and getting back to work.

"Excuse me, your next," said a voice. It was Viki.

"Oh, I'm sorry," said Tim, and he opened up to be swabbed.

Back in Hope's hospital room, Cole was alone with Hope. Starr had gone to get them something to eat. Hope turned to look at her dad.

"Hey Dad, is this going to delay the plans for asking mom to marry you?" she asked.

"Hey, you don't worry about that," said Cole. "I'll propose to your Mom when its right. Right now the only thing we need to do is to get you well." Hope smiled at that.

"Well, so the rumors are true," someone said from the doorway. Hope and Cole turned and saw (even though Hope didn't know who she was) Britney standing in the middle of the doorway.

_(A/N: Stay tuned to find out what happens.)_


End file.
